Finally, Odisha CM meets Bhasha Andolan activists

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik today met members of Bhasha Andolan here at state secretariat and discussed about their demands over use of classical Odia as official medium of communication, after over a year of the black flag march by the activists.

During the one-to-one interaction, the members demanded strict implementation of the Orissa Official Language Act, 1954.

The Orissa Official Language Act, 1954 is an Act of Odisha Legislative Assembly that recognizes Odia to be used for all or any of the official purposes in Odisha.

They also demanded to make it compulsory to use Odia at all government offices in official communication and punishment for violating Orissa Official Language Act.

Notably, Odia was accorded classical language status in 2014 but it has not been officially used due to red tapism.

Worth mentioning, the CM had discussed with Ama Odisha Party chief Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a frontline leader of the Bhasha Andolan, regarding the emerging issues in the state including Odia language, barely a week ago.